CPDI urges ECP to carry out post-election review exercise

ISLAMABAD: Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to carry out an in-depth post-election review exercise.

In a letter written to Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad, Executive Director CPDI Amer Ejaz highlighted the challenges that ECP faced in pre and post-election phase. He also gave suggestions for carrying out the robust and professional in-depth post-election review exercise.

The letter says that despite ECP’s best efforts and much better performance compared to past elections, it is an unfortunate fact that serious questions have been raised by certain political parties and other stakeholders about the fairness of pre-election and result consolidation processes.

CPDI believes it would be prudent to take stock of all such questions and the critique and systematically reflect on the whole process by carrying out an in-depth post-election review exercise.

CPDI suggests involving external experts to carry out this exercise. It is also required to adopt methodology involving feedback and input from all stakeholders including senior election officers, and a sample of polling agents, candidates, presiding officers and other polling staff, returning officers, district election officers, monitoring officers and election observers. CPDI demands that ECP should carry out this exercise as soon as possible and share its findings with the Parliament.

Ejaz further remarked that the post-election review exercise will help ECP to bring further improvements in the legal framework, election procedures and ECP’s management capacity. The exercise will lead ECP to better prepare for any such situation in future. This will also improve Commission’s credibility in this sensitive time as opposition is in doubts of it. By carrying out such practices ECP will reflect upon its clear intentions of doing their work honorably and scrupulously.

CPDI expresses the desire that ECP will take this advisement under consideration and take some practical measures regarding this matter. We also acknowledge the concerted efforts made by ECP to conduct general election 2018 on time.